Re: Remember This? What happened...

No, I don't think that the settlements were for money that was turned to influence elections. That $17 million is actually just a drop in the bucket to some war chests. For example, Beto O'Rourke here in Texas raised $80 million for his 2018 campaign. Clare McCaskey in Missouri spent over $39 million, and this was dwarfed by contributions from out of state groups.

Rumors of shenanigans on Capitol Hill and the mistreatment and harrassment of female (and sometimes male) aides has been around for decades, however the atmosphere of "good old boy"-ism has largely protected the lawmakers from serious consequences. Hopefully their days of copping feels and cornering staff for a little "excitement" are coming to an end.

Re: Remember This? What happened...

@Tom5678 wrote:if Trump would have not commited so many potential/alleged crimes Jim, nobody would have to get him. It's pretty simple.

What crime has he commited? Where is the indictment?

Aaah, but patience is a virtue! We can wait until 2021 if necessary. It will happen sooner or later.

Meanwhile, we get to enjoy watching Trump stew in his own hot water, and lash out nonsense to his twitter-verse followers.

Now I don't care for Michael Avenatti, but he said many times that the Cohen investigation would be the downfall of Donald J Trump. It seems to be headed in that direction. In fact, it looks like the whole Trump empire may crumble before it's all said and done. They may need a bigger wing for the cast of "Trump: Reality Prison".

Re: Remember This? What happened...

Cohen's indictment included many many references to an un-named participant in the felony crimes Cohen is going to jail for, identified as "Individual 1". The "un-named" party is also identified in court documents as having "gone on to win the Presidency" so if you or any other GOPer wants to claim it's NOT TRUMP, then please continue and admit Hillary won the Presidency, but Putin stole it and gave it to Trump. No other way to claim Individual 1, who, according to official court records, committed numerous FELONY CRIMES, is not lil donny T.

He's not been indicted YET, but he WILL BE o/a 20 Jan 2021 at the latest, if he hasn't fled to Mother Russia by then.

The controversial and sensitive issue has taken center stage in Congress this week, with female lawmakers making fresh allegations of sexual harassment against unnamed members who are currently in office, and the unveiling of a new bill on Wednesday to change how sexual harassment complaints are reported and resolved. On Thursday, a woman shared her story of being groped and kissed without her consent by Sen. Al Franken in 2006.

So far, there's been little specific data to help illuminate just how pervasive sexual harassment is on Capitol Hill, but one figure has emerged: the total that the Office of Compliance, the office that handles harassment complaints, has paid to victims.

On Thursday, the Office of Compliance released additional information indicating that it has paid victims more than $17 million since its creation in the 1990s. That includes all settlements, not just related to sexual harassment, but also discrimination and other cases.

An OOC spokeswoman said the office was releasing the extra data "due to the interest in the awards and settlement figures." The OOC has come under fire in recent days for what lawmakers and Hill aides alike say are its antiquated policies that do not adequately protect victims who file complaints.

CNN has also learned that during the current Congress, no settlement payment approval requests have been made to the congressional committee charged with approving them.

Here's what we know -- and what we don't know -- about that money:

When was this money paid out?

According to a report from the Office of Compliance, more than $17 million has been paid out in settlements over a period of 20 years -- 1997 to 2017.

How many settlements have there been?

According to the OOC data released Thursday, there have been 268 settlements. On Wednesday, Rep. Jackie Speier, the California Democrat who unveiled a bill to reform the OOC, announced at a news conference Wednesday that there had been 260 settlements. The previous tally did not include settlements paid in 2015, 2016 and 2017.